Cat's Cradle

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Transcript of Cat's Cradle

Cat's Cradle Who is Kurt Vonnegut? THE END! What's Cat's Cradle is about?! Themes in the Book! "When I shuffled out, somewhat relieved, I was met by Dr. Schlichter von Koenigswald, who was bounding from "Papa's" bedroom. He had a wild look, and he took me by the arms and he cried, "What is it? What was it he had hanging around his neck?" "I beg your pardon?" "He took it! What ever was in that cylinder, 'Papa' took--and now he's dead." (Vonnegut, 50) Passage : ANY QUESTIONS? Kurt Vonnegut is an American author whose main focus is on out spoken political opinions. He expresses himself through satiric social commentary and black comedy. Vonnegut was born in 1922, he majored in bio-chemistry in New York's Cornell University but ended up dropping out since he did poorly in his studies. He joined the US army in 1942 after and served 2 years until 1944. Vonnegut's horrific WW2 experiences were all translated into his books, like Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse five. His work usually expresses the idea of dehumanization by technology like the book Cat's Cradle. It What is Cat's Cradle REALLY about? That's what he looks like!! That's the book! Cat's Cradle is the novel written by Vonnegut in 1963. The main character "Jonah" proceeds to write about the atomic bomb dropping on Japan in WW2. He looks for information about the Hoenikkers (the family involved with the production of the atomic bomb) and realizes that an invention called the ice - 9 had been invented by Felix Hoenikker -father of the atomic bomb-. Ice - 9 had atrocious properties that would freeze any liquid instantly. He continues on his quest to find information about it, but during this he stumbles upon the truth about people and the destructive power mankind has. The book explores issues of science, technology, and religion. Vonnegut pokes fun at these issues through his characters. Jonah travels to San Lorenzo and most of the book's destruction happens there. The ice - 9 was abused by "Papa" Monzano and was exposed causing the whole world to FREEZE! Cat's Cradle focuses on many themes that revolve around how humanity is potentially destructive and brings the world to an end. The Cat's Cradle itself is a theme in the book that represents this well. - Think, what is a Cat's Cradle? It doesn't look like a Cat nor does it look like a Cradle, so why is it called Cat's Cradle. It simply doesn't make sense. - Moreover, what do you do with it? It is an endless toy revolving strings between your fingers that has no purpose. But it's fragile, with one slip of the finger you can easily ruin it. That is what Vonnegut want's to say in this book, that life is meaningless and can be easily destroyed by mankind. Link to Quote, Poem or Lyrics The Quote is "Science without religion is lame, Religion without science is blind." ~Albert Einstein. Doesn't he look kinda like Albert Einstein? To simply put it, Vonnegut is trying to say that science is developing into destructive weapons and the irresponsible uses of it will result in the end of humanity. He uses the ice - 9 as an analogy to what happened with the atomic bomb in Japan and what could potentially happen in the future. This passage in the story is extremely significant in reflecting the theme of science being destructive because it is when the first person on Earth died due to ice - 9. Papa's death ends up exposing ice - 9 to the entire world and freezing it causing humanity to die. This shows how irresponsible HUMANS are when using science and that is now resulting in the end of the world. A little bit about Einstein first. Albert Einstein was born on March 14th 1879. He was a German-born scientist, who developed the theory of relativity and quantum physics theory.He is considered the father of physics. But did you know Einstein also played a critical role in the development of the atomic bomb? During the Manhattan Project, Einstein feared that Germany would win the arms race and that Hitler would be willing to resort to using atomic weapons. Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt warning him of the possibility and urged Roosevelt to make the atomic bomb. As a result it was the first successfully made atomic bomb in WW2. Einstein regrets writing the letter however. "Science without religion is lame, Religion without science is blind." ~Albert Einstein. 1. When Einstein said this, he meant that science an religion are two things that go hand in hand. Science helps clear up superstitions and error of religion, religion however keeps people ethical and moral to prevent science from crossing the line. This relates to the Hoenikker family and how they used the ice - 9.

2. Religion without science is related back to the theme of Science (Logic) vs Religion in Cat's Cradle. When the ice - 9 froze the world, the people of San Lorenzo thought it was God's "plan" to kill them all so they committed suicide because that was what God wanted them to do. Religion without logic is ridiculous and therefore makes us blind. There is not a logical reason to die, and they all died stupidly.

3. After the atomic bomb was dropped, Einstein regretted the development of it and said this quote. Similar to how Jonah wrote his book about "The Day The World Ended". Both the quote and the book Jonah writes warns us about the destruction and power science holds and to not abuse it to destroy the world. Other themes include Appearance vs Reality &Science (Logic) vs Religion